HOUSTON ASTROS NOTES:
TODAY’S GAME: The Houston Astros, the reigning World Series champions, will open their road schedule today with an afternoon tilt opposite the Minnesota Twins, who are hosting their Home Opener a day later than originally scheduled…RHP José Urquidy will get the start for Houston today in what is expected to be near 45˚ temperatures…he’ll be opposed by RHP Sonny Gray and the Twins.
BRAVING THE ELEMENTS: RHP José Urquidy, a native of Mazat- lan, Mexico, owns the distinction of starting the Astros coldest game in franchise history, which had a first pitch temperature of 34˚, on April 21, 2021 at COL…Urquidy pitched through snow flurries that game, pitching 5.0 innings (4ER) in the loss… interestingly enough, Urquidy also started one of the hottest games in franchise history, which came on Sept. 4, 2022 at LAA (0ER/7IP)…that game started at 102˚ temperature, which checks in as the fifth-hottest game in club history.
ABOUT URQUIDY:RHP José Urquidy is entering his second start in what is his fifth Major League season (2019-23) and is looking to build upon a solid 2022 campaign in which he set many career highs, including wins (13), starts (28), innings pitched (164.1) and strikeouts (134)…he also had a solid showing this Spring Training at the World Baseball Classic, pitching twice for Team Mexico, including a 2.1-inning appearance (1ER) in Mexico’s semifinal game vs. Japan.
AT THE HELM: Astros skipper Dusty Baker celebrated his 26th career Opening Day as a manager last week and his fourth at the helm in Houston…Baker, who ranks ninth all-time in managerial wins with 2,096 wins, has an outside shot of moving up to sixth all time by seasons end…en route, he’d have to surpass Joe McCarthy (8th, 2,125), Bucky Harris (7th, 2,158) and Sparky Anderson (6th 2,194).
IN THE BOX: This season is the first for the Astros under GM Dana Brown, who was named the 14th GM in club history in January…it was also the 12th Opening Day for Astros Owner & Chairman Jim Crane, who purchased the club in Nov., 2011.
LASTING LEGACY: This series is another reunion with Twins SS Carlos Correa, who spent his first seven Major League seasons (2015-21) with the Astros, prior to joining the Twins prior to the 2022 season…Correa’s name will likely always be tied to the Houston franchise for many reasons, including thru his younger brother IF J.C. Correa, who’s currently a utility player for the Astros Double A affiliate, the Corpus Christi Hooks.
SEASON SWEEP: The Astros swept the Twins in 2022, winning all six of their games, including three games in Minnesota…the Twins were one of three teams the Astros swept the season series from in 2022, also the Tigers (7-0) and Mets (4-0).
WINSDAY: On Wednesday at Minute Maid Park, the Astros downed the Tigers by a score of 8-2…the offense broke out on the day, hammering 11 hits, including a season-high three homers, one each by CF Chas McCormick (2×4, 2RBI), RF Kyle Tucker (2×4, 2RBI) and SS Jeremy Pena (2×5, 2RBI)… RHP Cristian Javier (1ER/6IP) was great in his start, limiting the Tigers to just five hits and no walks en route to the win.
TODAY’S TELECAST: Today’s game will be televised on the AT&T SportsNet SW Alternate channel due to a scheduling overlap with the Houston Rockets…the alternate channel can be found on XFINITY (710HD), DirecTV (674-1), U-Verse (697/1697HD), Consolidated (114), btel (331), Astound (82/882 HD), MidSouth Fiber (114), Phonoscope (625) and I-Net (99)…the Alternate channel is also available on fuboTV.
BOMBS AWAY: RF Kyle Tucker has connected for a team-lead- ing three home runs on the young season, which gives him a tie for the American League lead…Tucker is looking to improve upon his career high of 30 homers, which he exactly reached in each of the last two seasons.
EARLY LEAGUE LEADERS:LF Yordan Alvarez checks in with 10 RBI, which ranks tied for second in the Majors…RF Kyle Tucker is tied for first in the AL in homers (3) and tied for second in walks (6)…1B José Abreu has 10 hits on the season, which ties for sixth in the AL.
RACKIN’ UP RBI: LF Yordan Alvarez is off to a characteristically strong start into the young season, as he’s hitting .348 (8×23) with a double, two homers, 10 RBI and a 1.060 OPS…this marks just the eighth time in club history for a player to record 10-plus RBI within the Astros first seven games of a season…the last player to do so was 1B Lance Berkman, who also had 10 RBI within the Astros first seven games of 2006.
SEÑOR CIEN:LF Yordan Alvarez connected for his 100th career homer on Monday, becoming the 19th player in franchise history to reach the 100-homer mark…Alvarez reached that mark in 372 games, the fastest by an Astros player, topping 1B Lance Berkman, who hit his 100th career homer in his 452nd game.
EARLY RETURNS: 1B José Abreu has opened his career with the Astros with a seven-game hitting streak, which ties as the longest active streak in the Majors…Abreu’s streak ties the third-longest hitting streak by a player to open his Astros career and the longest since IF Scott Moore hit safely in his first nine games with Houston in 2012…Abreu’s seven-game hitting streak is the longest to open a season in his 10-year career, surpassing his previous high of four games.
COOGS’ HOUSE!: OF Corey Julks, a native of Houston suburb Friendswood, TX, is off to a solid start to his Major League career, as he’s hitting .316 (6×19) through his first five Major League games…Julks is a Houstonian in every aspect, attending Friendswood’s Clear Brook HS and the University of Houston before being drafted by the Astros in eight round of the 2017 draft.
FULL SLATE: For the first time this season, the Astros and all four of their full-season minor league affiliates will play games today…the last team to join the party is Class A Fayetteville, which is celebrating their Opening Day tonight…the others in action tonight are Triple A Sugar Land (3-2), Double A Corpus Christi (0-1) and Class A Asheville (0-1).
TAYLOR ON ASSIGNMENT: LHP Blake Taylor, on the IL with a left elbow strain, has made three scoreless appearances so far while on an injury rehab assignment with Triple A Sugar Land… because Taylor began the season the the Major League injured list, he’s not eligible to be activated until April 11.
TODAY’S ASTROS STARTER: RHP JOSÉ URQUIDY
LAST START – 4/1 vs. CWS: allowed 3 runs on 7 hits with 1 walk and 5 strikeouts in 4.0 innings…Houston went on to defeat the White Sox, 6-4.
AGAINST THE TWINS: will make his 3rd career start against the Twins…he’s recorded a 3.60 ERA (4ER/10IP) with 11 strikeouts, 1 walk, a 0.80 WHIP and a .184 opponent batting average…is looking to earn his 1st career win against the Twins.
THE 2022 CAMPAIGN: reached career-highs in appearances (29), starts (28) wins (13) and strikeouts (134), while posting a 3.94 ERA (72ER/164.1IP)
• posted a 2.08 walks per 9.0 ratio (38 BB in 164.1IP) this year…ranked 9th in AL.
• was moved to the bullpen prior to his final start of the season and made his lone relief appearance in his final outing on 10/3 vs. PHI…prior to 10/3’s relief outing, made only 2 regular season relief appearances, which both came in Sep. 2019 (2ER/7IP)
• pitched in 1 game in the ‘22 postseason, appearing in relief in Gm 3 at Philadelphia…delivered 3 scoreless innings of relief, allowing just one hit and striking out 4 batters to 1 walk…helped the Astros bullpen cover important innings in the 7-0 loss as the team went on to win the next 2 games and seal the World Series title…the Astros bullpen allowed just 2 runs through 13 innings beginning with Urquidy’s appearance
POSTSEASON RECORD BOOKS: holds numerous postseason records of foreign-born players…leads all foreign-born players in MLB history with 3 World Series wins…has gone 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA (2ER/14.2 IP) in 5 World Series games…also just the 2nd Mexican-born player to receive a winning decision as a starter in the World Series, joining LHP Fernando Valenzuela (LAD, ‘81)
• through 12 career postseason games, has gone 3-2 with a 3.72 ERA (15 ER/36.1IP). WBC: was a member of Team Mexico in the 2023 World Baseball Classic…picked up the win in a 10-3 victory over Team Canada to advance Team Mexico past pool play, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits and striking out 5 batters to 1 walk in the start
• made a relief appearance in the semifinal loss to Samurai Japan, allowing 1 run on 2 hits through 2.1 IP…it was Team Mexico’s 1st trip to the WBC semifinals in its 4th appearance in the tournament.
WITH THE ‘STROS: was originally signed by the Astros as an international free agent from Mexico on March 2, 2015…made his MLB debut on 7/2/19 with a start at Colorado…since his debut, he ranks 3rd amongst AL pitchers (min. 325 IP) by averaging 1.90 walks per 9 IP.
• last name is pronounced “urr-KEE-dee”
• is on 11 Mexican-born players to appear in a game with the Astros…his 346.0 IP in his career is the most of any Mexican-born pitcher in Astros history, directly ahead of RHP Aurelio Lopez, who pitched 116.0 innings for the Astros in the 1986-87 seasons…his 24 career wins are 2ndmost of any active Mexican-born player in MLB, trailing only Dodgers LHP Julio Urías (51)
MINNESOTA TWINS NOTES:
No release available.
